Three
by Jackson Hanning
Summary: There is one rule in the world of guardian angels: the rule of Three. Wingtalia au Oneshot. No happy ending.


_**Why do I do this to myself?**_

_**I'd give you warnings, but that'd just be a spoiler.**_

_**A warning I can give you is don't count on my Spanish/Italian/any foreign language skills.  
Because I barely speak English most days.**_

_**Read on at your own peril.**_

_**-Jack**_

* * *

...

...

"NO!"

The cry of denial rang through the dark, night air.

A flash of light and a crash of thunder sent his pounding feet into motion against the tarmac surface.

A gasp, and a sob ripped from his throat as he views his worst nightmare. A pair of denim clad knees hit the pavement, soaking through instantly, but he doesn't notice. He is too busy scooping up the pale, limp body from the ground, clutching it close as he begs for a response, his voice growing hoarse with tears.

Sobs mingled with the heavy splash of raindrops, and teardrops mixed with rainwater on the cold, hard concrete.

"No es mi corazón! No, no, no!"

_How did we come to be in this place?_

_What happened to us?_

* * *

...

...

The crash in the allyway caught his attention. Otherwise he never would have stopped, never would have gone looking for the source of the crash, and he never would have seen the tangled mess of limbs and auburn hair with a single, errant curl sticking straight up, struggling it's way out of an overturned trash can.

"Ai, do you need a hand?"

"I'm- ugh- fine, dammit!"

The young man finally hauled himself out of the mess and started to brush himself off. A pair of wide green eyes stared in amazement. A blush coated the accident-prone one's face as he noticed the other's wide eyes. "Stop staring, dammit."

"You... you're a-"

He realized what the other man was staring at. The wide pair of light brown wings spread behind the slim teenager's body. _Shit. Just play it cool._

"I'm an angel," the teen declared, flipping the random curl out of his face. So what?"

"Whoa. Why is an angel talking to me?"

The angel rolled his hazel eyes in irritation. "I'm _your _angel."

The green eyes opened even wider, which hadn't seemed possible, as the angel suddenly flushed even deeper and tried to backpedal. "Your _guardian_ angel, bastard! You're like my job! So just... stop staring at me, dammit!"

"I can't."

"Why NOT?"

"Because you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life," said the man with the green eyes honestly. His name was Antonio. The angel knew because it was his job to know. He was Antonio's guardian angel, after all. However, he wasn't supposed to have been seen by Antonio. And he wasn't supposed to be holding this conversation. He was only supposed to be watching from above.

But he couldn't resist getting a closer look.

"I'm not beautiful, dammit!" the angel shouted, stomping his sneaker clad foot in frustration. Yes, angels wear sneakers. White sneakers. And blue jeans. And in this particular case, a green and white striped t-shirt. Didn't you know? Well, there's probably a lot you didn't know about angels. This angel in particular. For starters, he wasn't the _best_ angel heaven had to offer. In fact, he had kind of a temper, and a mouth that, in another life, made many nuns blush. But the angel had a good heart, and despite his faults, the Big Guy upstairs told everyone he had a very special job for this one.

A special job that included the task of watching over one green eyed Spaniard with curly brown hair and a laugh that the angel just loved to hear.

"Sure you are, but if it makes you more comfortable, I'll try to stop staring, okay?"

"Thank you," the angel muttered. "Get a move on."

Antonio blinked those huge green eyes. The angel thought they were captivating. _Fuck, I sound like a damn girl. So what if he's got pretty eyes? What am I gonna do, just tell him? Hey Antonio, you've got pretty eyes!_ "If you say so."

"Huh?" The angel's eyes went wide, his thoughts running away with him as he suddenly forgot that Antonio was human, and therefore incapable of reading his thoughts.

"I'll go," Antonio said cheerfully. "Are you going to walk with me?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, you didn't come down here for no reason, right? I mean, this must be a pretty big deal."

The angel sputtered for a minute, his cheeks renewing their red flush. "Itwasanaccident," he muttered finally.

"Eh? I can't hear you Mr. Angel."

"It was an accident, okay?" the angel exclaimed. He huffed and crossed his slim arms across his chest, looking away. "I wasn't supposed to reveal myself, but I got a little too close and fell."

"Ahh!" Antonio said. "So you're leaving now?" The human looked slightly crestfallen.

"I should. And you should... forget this ever happened, capisce?"

Antonio nodded quickly. "Si! Si!"

The angel nodded once and held up one hand, fingers poised to snap himself back into heaven.

"Wait!"

"What?"

Antonio looked down and rubbed his hand through the shaggy brown hair at the back of his head. "Do... do you have a name?"

The angel paused, staring at his human charge for just a moment. "Lovino." Then he snapped, and he was gone.

Antonio was left alone on the sidewalk, staring at the space the angel had been occupying moments ago. "Lovino," he repeated in a whisper. "Well I'm sorry Lovino. But I can't forget about you. Not ever. Capisce?"

* * *

...

...

When Antonio rounded the corner and saw Lovino seated on the couch in his living room, he was only half surprised. The angel had been in Antonio's thoughts almost constantly in the three weeks since they'd met downtown. Antonio's face immediately brightened. "Lovi!"

"Lovino," the angel corrected.

"Lovino," Antonio corrected, only out of duty. The grin remained in place on his face. "You came back!"

"Yeah. Yeah, I did."

"Why?"

Why? Well, the truthful answer to that question was not one Lovino cared to answer. The truth was that for some reason which Lovino couldn't even pinpoint, he found the Spanish human to be completely and totally irresistible. He came back because he couldn't stay away. It was physically impossible not to be close to Antonio. He wasn't content with just watching anymore.

"I just did, okay, stop asking so many questions."

"Okay," Antonio readily agreed, seating himself on the other end of the couch Lovino occupied. His gaze flicked across Lovino's face, memorizing it. Lovino felt his face heat for the sole reason that he knew he had done the same to Antonio so many times. Only Antonio had no idea.

"Antonio?"

"Si?"

Lovino paused. What was he going to say? What was he going to ask Antonio that he didn't already know the answers to? Lovino knew everything about Antonio. Everything. Probably more than Antonio knew himself. Lovino just had to ask _something_. To hear that rich voice like warm caramel spill from his mouth. The smile on his face was already sending a pleasant shiver down Lovino's spine. And those messy, chocolate colored curls, sticking every which way in a case of the most attractive bedhead in history. Those emerald eyes, watching Lovino's ever move; every twitch of his wings and every twist of his head. Those eyes, so attentive; focused so completely on Lovino in this moment. As if they didn't know anything else existed to look at.

And suddenly Lovino wasn't sitting on the couch across from Antonio. He was _there_. By some reaction Lovino was barely even aware of, he was propelled from his seat and kneeling beside Antonio on the couch, wings fluttering, hands braced on the couch on either side of the Spaniard. Lovino studied the handsome face he knew so well for the first time up close. It was even more perfect from here. Tanned and smooth, unblemished. More perfect than any human Lovino had ever witnessed in their natural state before. One of Lovino's hands came up, hovering over the smooth skin. He was almost afraid to touch Antonio, who just sat still, eyes wide, completely frozen to his spot. In truth, Antonio was afraid any movement at all would frighten the angel away. And he wanted nothing of the sort.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Lovino brought his hand to rest on Antonio's upper arm. It was firm, muscular, strong. Antonio shivered at the touch, sucking in a deep breath, his eyes never moving from the beautiful creature so close to him.

Slowly, even slower than before, Lovino brought his face closer to Antonio's, closing the distance. His eyelids fluttered shut and his lips met the warm, slightly chapped lips that belonged to Antonio. Antonio kissed back wholeheartedly.

Lovino was hooked. He knew he would never be able to get back from this point. He was completely, entirely, totally in love with Antonio. Yet he could never have him. And that single thought brought Lovino's fingers together in the snap that took him back to heaven with no warning whatsoever.

Antonio ached at the feeling of Lovino's absence. His breathing slightly heavier than usual, he let his head drop back against the couch as he replayed the previous moments back in his mind. He'd never been in love before, but he was certain that this was it.

* * *

...

...

"You've done it, haven't you?"

"Done what?"

"You fell in love with him, didn't you?"

Lovino sighed and poked at his food, offering no response to the other angel. She made a clicking noise and shook her head. "Lovino..."

"I know, Bella, I know," Lovino muttered. "But I don't have a choice."

"You can't go back to him again, Lovino," Bella told him. "That was three. If you go back, you'll be giving up your immortality."

"I know!" Lovino snapped. "You think I don't know?"

"Are you willing to do that, Lovino?"

Lovino sucked in a deep breath. "For him... yes."

Bella clicked her tongue again. "Well then. I guess that's that."

Lovino let his head drop until his forehead made contact with the table. "I don't know what to do, Bella. I don't want to be a mortal again. I don't want to die again! But... I love him."

"Then you've got a tough choice to make," Bella said. "Just make sure you know what your choice is before you decide you need to go down there again."

* * *

...

...

Antonio was walking to work. He always walked to work, and he always took this route. He had done it in sunshine, and today he did it in rain. It wasn't a big deal. And he had his favorite umbrella with him! The red one, with the green tip. It looked just like a tomato.

Movement between two buildings caught his attention. His green eyes went wide as he saw the man in the black ski mask, pointing a gun at an old woman on the other side of the street, in an alley. The old woman moved slowly, and the man was getting frantic, waving his gun. "Hey!" Antonio called, only to have the gun aimed in his direction.

A flash of lightning, and a crash of thunder, and suddenly the man was on the ground, scrambling with another figure. Another flash, followed instantly by a noise that was definitely not thunder. A cry of pain. Another gunshot. Then the man in the ski mask ran, disappearing. The old woman cried for help as Antonio's brain registered what was happening.

Antonio's feet brought him closer. He saw a green and white striped t-shirt, a red stain blossoming across the chest. Auburn hair. Those bright, white sneakers. Antonio's brain went into overdrive. No. No, it couldn't be. "NO!"

The cry of denial rang through the dark, night air.

A flash of light and a crash of thunder sent his pounding feet into motion against the tarmac surface of the street.

A gasp, and a sob ripped from his throat as he views his worst nightmare. A pair of denim clad knees hit the pavement, soaking through instantly, but he doesn't notice. He is too busy scooping up the pale, limp body from the ground, clutching it close as he begs for a response, his voice growing hoarse with tears.

Sobs mingled with the heavy splash of raindrops, and teardrops mixed with rainwater on the cold, hard concrete.

"No es mi corazón! No, no, no!"

_How did we come to be in this place?_

_What happened to us?_

"Toni," Lovino whispered, and Antonio's eyes went wide in response.

"Lovi! Lovi, you're going to be okay. Lovi, look at me. Keep looking at me, mi corazón. Please. Please stay with me."

"Toni," Lovino whispered again, his form staying completely limp in Antonio's arms.

Antonio buried his face in the wet, auburn hair and tried not to let the sobs overtake him. "Lovi, where are your wings?"

"I... gave them up," he breathed.

"Why did you give up your wings, mi corazón?"

"Be...cause." Lovino's breathing became more labored. "Guardian... angels... can only... set foot on Earth three times. Then... they have to give up... their im..immortality."

"What?"

"Third time... I kissed you."

"Lovi-"

"Second time... in this alley."

Antonio choked back a sob as he realized that this was indeed the same alley in which he had met Lovino. "But that's only two times."

"First time... you were three." Lovino let out a weak cough and inhaled shakily. "You... you drowned... in the swimming pool. I..."

"You saved me," Antonio breathed.

He remembered with clarity the day Lovino spoke of. He remembered someone... he couldn't see him. He had saved him. Antonio remembered his grandmother saying "You must've had a guardian angel looking out for you that day, Toni."

Antonio choked on his tears and hugged Lovi's limp body closer. "Why did you do this, Lovi?"

"He... was going... to shoot you too," Lovino said. "I... couldn't let him."

"Why?"

"Because... I love you, Antonio. I love you." Lovino's fingers curled around Antonio's shirt and his eyes slid shut. He'd lasted this long because he'd only just given up his immortality. Now he had to die. Again. He wouldn't be a guardian angel this time. He could watch Antonio from heaven, but that was all he could do. Antonio would be given a new guardian. And maybe... just maybe... Lovino would see him again. Someday.

_**FIN**_


End file.
